Philosophy of science in Estonia

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of the philosophy of science in Estonia. Topics covered include the historical background (science at the 17th century Academia Gustaviana, in the 19th century, during the Soviet period) and an overview of the current situation and main areas of research (the problem of demarcation, a critique of the traditional understandings of science, φ-science, classical and non-classical science, the philosophy of chemistry, the problem of induction, the sociology of scientific knowledge, semiotics as a methodology).

Eintalu, J. (1994b). Outsolutions in physical theories. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Philosophy and methodology of science in Estonia: The present state and prospects. Teaduslugu ja nüüdisaeg IX (pp. 205–218). Tallinn: EUHPS and Department of Philosophy of the University of Tartu.Google Scholar

Eintalu J. (2000) Even if (Even if Popper solved the problem of induction, Popperians still cannot be rational agents). Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences 4(2): 186–208Google Scholar

Kivistik, J. (2001). On the raising of a hand. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 295–304). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Kurs, O., & Tammiksaar, E. (2001). In political draughts between science and the humanities: Geography at the University of Tartu between the 17th – 20th centuries. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 51–62). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Lõhkivi, E. (2001a). Changes in the image of science after the social turn. In A. Kull (Ed.). The human being at the intersection of science, religion, and medicine (pp. 86–93), (Proceedings of the International Colloquium Tartu, 4–5 May 2001). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar

Lõhkivi, E. (2003). On philosophers’ criticism of the sociology of scientific knowledge. Paper presented at the Research Seminar of the Department of Philosophy, the University of Helsinki, Retrieved from http://www.helsinki.fi/filosofia/tutkijaseminaari/Lohkivi.pdf Accessed 24 April 2003.Google Scholar

Lõhkivi, E. (2004). What models can do: A study of the use of the concept of model in biosensor research. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Special issue “Proceedings of the 7th Summer Symposium of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (Tartu, 16–20 August, 2003)” (pp. 53–68). Studia Philosophica, IV(40). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar

Loone, E. (1993b). Between West and East: The case of philosophy in Estonia. In K. Siilivask (Ed.), 17th Baltic Conference on History of Science: Baltic science between the West and the East (pp. 18–20). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar

Lotman M. (2000) A few notes on the philosophical background of the Tartu School of semiotics. European Journal for Semiotic Studies 12(1): 23–46Google Scholar

Lumiste Ü., Piirimäe H. (2001) Newton’s Principia in the curricula of the University of Tartu (Dorpat) in the early 1690-s. In: Vihalemm R. (eds) Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London, pp. 3–18Google Scholar

Luts M. (1997) An introduction to the philosophy of law: A textbook for the students of the University of Tartu. Juura, Tallinn [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Martinson, H. (2001). Formation of R&D policy in a small country in a changing world. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 63–76). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Matjus, Ü. (2001). Edmund Husserl pursuing the paths of Descartes: The Paris Lectures on philosophy as a universal science. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 123–138). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Maxwell N. (1984) From knowledge to wisdom: A revolution in the aims and methods of science. Basil Blackwell, OxfordGoogle Scholar

Näpinen L. (1982) On the notions of organisation and self-organisation in contemporary natural science. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Social Sciences 31(1): 90–98 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Näpinen L. (1990) On the assumptions of progress in society in light of the principles of synergetics. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Social Sciences 39(3): 128–142 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Näpinen, L. (2001). The problem of the relationship between human and physical realities in Ilya Prigogine’s paradigm of self-organisation. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 151–164). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Näpinen, L. (2002). Ilya Prigogine’s program for the remaking of traditional physics and the resulting conclusions for understanding social problems. Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(56/51), 2, 115–140.Google Scholar

Näpinen L. (2004a) Exact sciences and the problem of integral understanding of the social reality. Problemos 65: 32–41Google Scholar

Näpinen, L. (2004b). Understanding of the world and the scientific paradigm of self-organization. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Special issue “Proceedings of the 7th Summer Symposium of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (Tartu, 16-20 August, 2003)” (pp. 156–157). Studia Philosophica, IV(40). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar

Palge, V. (1994). On MacTaggart’s paradox of time and its interpretations. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Philosophy and methodology of science in Estonia: The present state and prospects. Teaduslugu ja nüüdisaeg IX (pp. 194–204). Tallinn: EUHPS and Department of Philosophy of the University of Tartu [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Palm, V. (1994). Some basic criteria of the scientific method and internal structure of science. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Philosophy and methodology of science in Estonia: The present state and prospects. Teaduslugu ja nüüdisaeg IX (pp. 102–130). Tallinn: EUHPS and Department of Philosophy of the University of Tartu [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Palm, V. (2001). Some fundamental criteria of the scientific method and the internal structure of science. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 91–110). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Parve V. (2003) National regulations on ethics and research in Estonia. European Commission, BrusselsGoogle Scholar

Past, V. (2001). The emergence of physical chemistry: The contribution of the University of Tartu. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 35–50). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Past, V. (2004). Wilhelm Ostwald and physical chemistry at the University of Tartu. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Special issue “Proceedings of the 7th Summer Symposium of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (Tartu, 16-20 August, 2003)” (pp. 19–25). Studia Philosophica, IV(40). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar

Rebane J. (1982) Information and social memory: some comments on the problem of the social determination of cognition. Voprosy filosofii 8: 44–55 [in Russian; Summary in English: 173–174].Google Scholar

Sutt T. (1987) The anthropic principle and the synthetic theory of evolution. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Biology 1: 1–8Google Scholar

Tähepõld L., Ilomets T. (1995) Gustav von Bunge—a great scientist and teacher in development of physiological and pathological chemistry. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Humanities and Social Sciences 44(2): 138–159Google Scholar

Tankler, H. (2001). A university between two cultures: On the development of Tartu/Dorpat University in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 19–34). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Uibo A. (1990) On the interdisciplinary character of the main methodological problems of historical knowledge. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Social Sciences 39(3): 257–272 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Unt, A. (2001). The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics and common sense. In R. Vihalemm (Ed.), Estonian studies in the history and philosophy of science. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science. Vol. 219) (pp. 247–262). Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar

Valt L. (1967) On the role of the thought experiment in the development of a scientific theory. In: Omelyanovsky M.E. (eds). Logic and Methodology of Science. Nauka, Moscow, pp. 205–210 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Valt L. (1975) Object, problem and model. In: Valt L., Hütt V. (eds). The method of modelling and some problems of the history and methodology of natural science. Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR, Tallinn, pp. 16–27 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Valt, L. (1994). On the resistance of Estonian philosophy of science to the Communist Party ideology. In R. Vihalemm (Eds.), Philosophy and methodology of science in Estonia: The present state and prospects. Teaduslugu ja nüüdisaeg IX (pp. 44–52). Tallinn: EUHPS and Department of Philosophy of the University of Tartu [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm R. (1977) The notion of the “logic of the development of science” and some methodological questions of the analysis of the history of science. Filosofskiye nauki 5: 105–113 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm R. (1980) Concept of scientificity and social determination of the formation of a science (on the basis of the history of chemistry). In: Bazhenov A.B., Akhundov M.D. (eds). Science in social, epistemological, and axiological aspects. Nauka, Moscow, pp. 345–358 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm R. (1981) The history of the formation of a science: On the development of chemistry. Valgus, Tallinn [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm R. (1982a) Is a chemical picture of the world possible? (On the particular scientific pictures of the world). Filosofskiye nauki 1: 148–151 [in Russian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm, R. (1982b). The Development of Chemistry and the Ideals of Scientificity. Czlowiek i Światopoglad [Warsaw] 1/2, 145–155 [in Polish].Google Scholar

Vihalemm, R. (1983). On the philosophical foundations of different programs concerning the rational reconstruction of the history of science. In E. Sidorenko et al. (Eds.), Logic, methodology and philosophy of science (Papers of Soviet scientists adopted by the Soviet National organization committee for the VII International Congress on Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science. Austria, Salzburg, 11-16 July, 1983) (pp. 185–188). Sections 6, 8–13. Moscow: Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar

Vihalemm, R. (1994). On the status of philosophy of science today and its peculiarities and prospects in Estonia. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Philosophy and methodology of science in Estonia: The present state and prospects. Teaduslugu ja nüüdisaeg IX (pp. 6–23). Tallinn: EUHPS and Department of Philosophy of the University of Tartu [in Estonian].Google Scholar

Vihalemm R. (1995a) Some comments on a naturalistic approach to the philosophy of science. Studia Philosophica 2(38): 9–18Google Scholar

Vihalemm, R. (2003b). Natural kinds, explanation, and essentialism in chemistry. In J. E. Earley, Sr. (Ed.), Chemical explanation: Characteristics, development, autonomy (pp. 59–70). (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 988). New York: The New York Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar

Vihalemm, R. (2004a). Foreword: Some remarks on the emergence of philosophy of chemistry in the East and West. In R. Vihalemm et al. (Eds.), Special issue “Proceedings of the 7th Summer Symposium of the International Society for the Philosophy of Chemistry (Tartu, 16-20 August, 2003)” (pp. 7–15). Studia Philosophica, IV(40). Tartu: Tartu University Press.Google Scholar